1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



279 



To stiften and prevent the sides from sagging, 

 solder a wire to the lower corner of each end of 

 the framework ; pass it over the top bar, solder 

 it there ; pass it down to the opposite lower cor- 

 ner, and solder. Put the shaft through the two 

 holes, and solder it to the two bars, in such a 

 position that the lower bar will just clear the top 

 of the tube in the bottom of the tub. Make a 

 cross-bar of wood, two inches wide, and long- 

 enough to reach between the wooden handles of 

 the tub, to which it is to be fastened. Bore a 

 hole in the middle of this bar large enough to 

 admit the shaft in the tube ; put on the wooden 

 cross-bar, and fasten it in place, with the sliaft 

 through the hole ; insert your crank in the hole 

 in the top of the shaft, and tiirn away. 



The dimensions given, fit the standard Lang- 

 stroth frame, eighteen inches long and ten 

 inches deep. If your frame is shorter, make the 

 eighteen inch sides enough shorter to accommo- 

 date it, and the twelve inch sides can be made 

 correspondingly longer, which is an advantage, 

 as the further the frames are hung from the 

 shaft, the slower the required motion may be. 

 If you intend to use the extractor extensively, it 

 is undoubtedly best to use gearing instead of a 

 crank, for, after some time, the rapid motion of 

 the crank becomes tiresome. For my use the 

 crank is sufficient. If your frame is much deeper 

 than ten inches, you would require a tub more 

 than fifteen inches deep. The top of this ex- 

 tractor can have a perfect cover. If you think 

 you need one, put one on ; but do not fasten it 

 with hinges. Have it removable at pleasure. If 

 desirable, you could use wood for the shaft and 

 the two bars. You might also use a tub (a new 

 one) without the zinc lining, or the lining with- 

 out the tub. I like mine just as it is. 



R. BiCKFORD. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1871. 



[For the Americaa Bee Journal.] 



Eeproductive Organs of the Queen Bee. 



In these organs there is a difference between 

 the impregnated and the unimpregnated queens, 

 perceptible even by the naked eye. At least in 

 one particular I have noticed a difference, of 

 which I will here make mention, showing that 

 the commonly accepted theory as to the '■'modus 

 operandi''^ of how the queen can lay two kinds 

 of eggs, drone and worker, is tenable. 



Not being well acquainted with the anatomy 

 of the bee or with anatomical terms, I will try 

 to make myself understood independent of those 

 terms. 



Any one who has ever opened the abdomen of 

 the queen bee, and examined the parts with or- 

 dinary minuteness, has no doubt discovered, in 

 the region nearest the extremity, a small round 

 something about the size of a mustard seed, in 

 connection with certain other parts there found. 

 In a quite young queen, or one unimpregnated, 

 I have always found this little ball (as I will call 

 it) in appearance transparent like clear water. 

 In fertile or impregnated queens, I have always 



found it in appearance the color of mitk. I have 

 examined quite a number, always with the .same 

 result. I am satisfied that age does not cause 

 this diiference, because in examining drone-laying 

 queens of considerable age, I find this "ball" of 

 the same clearness as in the queen just taken 

 from the cell ; and in young fertile queens I have 

 found it to be of a milky color, the same as in 

 older queens. 



By a process in harmony with the structure of 

 the queen bee and her instincts, she can deposit 

 eggs in drone cells without their necessarily 

 coming in direct contact with her fertilizing 

 powers ; consequently they will produce the 

 same kind of bees (drones) as though she had 

 never been impregnated. And in depositing her 

 eggs in worker cells, they become so far fertil- 

 ized as to produce workers (imperfectly devel- 

 oped female bees). Such seems to be the nature 

 and instinct of the bee. Marvellous in our eyes 

 are the works of God. 



J. S. Floky. 



Fayetteville, Wed Va. 



m^"" It is on these facts, first noticed and fully 

 described and explained by Dzierzon, that the 

 "Dzierzon theory" and the modern or scientific 

 system of bee-culture are founded. The discovery 

 shed a flood of light on what was "mystery" 

 before. The existence of the spermatheca was 

 previously known, but it was supposed to be 

 designed to furnish the passing egg with a coat- 

 ing of glutinous matter to secure it in proper 

 position on the base of the cell. Dzierzon's con- 

 jecture that its contents were seminal matter de- 

 rived from the drone, met with strenuous opj^o- 

 sition in various quarters, till Prof. Von Siebold 

 settled the question by means of the microscope, 

 showing the existence of spermatozoa in worker 

 eggs, and their absence in drone eggs, and the 

 identity of these spermatozoa with those found 

 in the semen of drones, and in the spermatheca 

 of the queen after fertilization. — [Ed.] 



[For the Araeiicau Bee Journal.] 



Various Particulars. 



Mr. Editor : — It being over a year since I 

 wrote to you and renewed my subscrijition, I 

 will now try to do both, and ask you to forgive 

 me for not doing it sooner. Remember that I 

 intend to take the Journal as long as I keep 

 bees, and that will be as long as I live ; so, if 

 the Journal is running, I shall be taking it. 



I intend to write a little of all sorts for the 

 Journal now. If you .see fit to put it in, do so. 

 To begin where I left off a year ago, I shall state 

 how my bees whitered in 1869-70. I put some 

 seventy stocks into winter quarters, in good con- 

 dibion so far as bees were concerned, but not 

 well supplied with honey, for the previous sea- 

 son was poor in this part of Wisconsin, and very 

 wet. Hence the bees came out weak in the spring. 

 I lost fourteen stocks, which was no great loss 

 after all, for I saved all the combs to put swarms 

 in. aiKl I had plenty oi these in the summer of 

 1870— which, by the way, was the best honey 



